


































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































My NAME Is MARY 





Three wise old men had seen a new star in the 
East and followed it to Bethlehem 























My Name Is 
MARY 


By 

MARGARET FRY 

>> 

V 

Drawings by 

Christine Chisholm 

' * *" 

> > , 


THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


1930 











9Zi 
. Pim 

*1 


Copyright, 1930, by 

THOMAS S. ROCKWELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


Printed in United States of America 


AUG 2 3 1930 


©CIA 26872 


CONTENTS 


To All the Marys Who Read this Book 7 

The Pixies 9 

The Mother of the Father of Our Country 14 
The Gold Bread 19 

Mary’s Canary 30 

Maryland 31 

Little Roast Pig 32 

Mary Queen of Scots 38 

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary 43 

The First Mary in America 44 

The Child of Mary 50 

Highland Mary 58 

The Best Loved Mary of them All 60 


TO ALL THE MARYS WHO READ 
THIS BOOK 

S INCE this is a book for all little girls named 
Mary, perhaps I had better tell you first 
of all what Mary means. Probably you have 
never thought about your name having a mean¬ 
ing; but most names do, especially the names 
that are old, and Mary is one of the oldest 
names we know. 

Mary comes from the Hebrew language 
which is very old indeed. And to the ancient 
Hebrews the name Mary had a special mean¬ 
ing: exalted. Exalted means glorified, digni¬ 
fied, and refined. What a wonderful mean¬ 
ing for a name and how proud you should be 
that it is your own! 

It seems just right, doesn’t it, that one of the 
first Marys, the lovely mother of Jesus, should 
have had that name. As you read this book 
you will learn about some other real Marys that 

7 









were fine and beautiful girls and women: the 
brave and beautiful Mary, Queen of Scots; the 
little pilgrim, Mary Chilton; die wise Mary 
Washington; and Mary Lincoln. 

All the stories are not about real Marys, of 
course. It is nice that the Marys got into 
nursery rhymes and poems and ballads and into 
make-believe and fairy stories, too. In this 
book you will find stories of Marys from many 
different lands. 

But whether real or make-believe, these 
Marys are some that I hope you will like to 
read about over and over again. And while you 
are reading, I hope that you will not forget that 
when Father and Mother named you Mary 
they chose for you one of the finest names in 
the world. 

Margaret Fry. 




THE PIXIES 


A STORY FROM ENGLAND* 

T HERE was once a little cottage in the 
middle of a flower garden. Its walls were 
covered with roses, and its porch was twined 
with clematis. The bees buzzed over the 
flowers and the butterflies fluttered about the 
porch. And a hundred little green Pixies lived 
in the wood nearby. 

In this cottage two orphan sisters dwelt all 
alone. One morning the elder sister, Mary, 
got up at break of day. She milked the cow, 
churned the butter, swept the hearth, and made 
the breakfast. Then she sat on the porch to 
spin, and sang: 

“How merrily the wheel goes round , 
With a whirring, humming sound!” 

*Used by permission of the publishers of the “Book of Elves 
and Fairies,” by Frances Jenkins Olcott, by arrangement vjith 
Houghton Mifflin Company. 


9 








10 


MY NAME IS MARY 


But the younger sister, Alice, lay in bed 
asleep. Then Mary put her spinning aside, and 
called aloud: 

“Wake, Alice, wake! There is much for you 
to do while I go to the market-town. I must 
sell our yarn, and buy your new dress. While 
I am gone, don’t forget to bring in the firewood, 
drain the honey-comb, and fill the Pixies’ 
water-pail.” 

But Alice did not answer. So Mary put on 
her hood and took her basket full of yarn. She 
walked all the way to the market-town and sold 
her yarn, and bought the new dress. Then 
she walked home again. 

The sun had set when she reached the 
cottage, and Alice was sitting idle on the porch. 
The honey-comb was not drained, the firewood 
was not brought in, the bed was not made, and 
the supper was uncooked. And although Mary 
was tired and hungry, she had to cook the 
supper and make the bed. Then the sisters 
went to sleep. 

By and by, the hundred little green Pixies 
came creeping, creeping into the kitchen. They 




THE PIXIES 


n 


pattered softly about and whispered so that the 
sisters could not hear them. Some ran to the 
spinning-wheel and began to spin, others built 
a fire under the oven, and mixed and kneaded 
the bread. One took a broom and swept the 
floor, and another brought in the firewood. 

When all the yarn was spun, the bread baked, 
and the kitchen tidy, the Pixies ran to the water- 
pail to get a drink. But there was not a drop 
of water in it! And, oh! how angry they 
all were! 

Then Mary awoke, and cried: “Alice! Alice! 
Don’t you hear those angry buzzings? Surely 
you did not forget to fill the Pixies’ waterpail!” 

But Alice answered: “I did not draw the 
water today. And I will not leave my bed 
now to fetch it for any little Pixy!” Then she 
went back to sleep again. 

But Mary got up, and, though her feet were 
tired and sore, she took the pail and ran through 
the garden to the spring. And as she stooped 
she saw a hundred little faces laughing at her 
from the water. She dipped her pail, and they 
were gone. She lifted the pail, and felt little 






12 


MY NAME IS MARY 


hands seize it and bear it along. It was carried 
to the door, and into the kitchen, and set down 
by the hearth. But she could see no one, so 
she went to bed again. 

The next morning early, Mary got up. She 
ran to the pail and looked into it. Then she 
clapped her hands and called: 

“Come, Alice, come! See the silver pennies 
shining at the bottom of the clear water! There 
must be at least a hundred of them! Come, 
sister, dear!” 

Then Alice, waking, tried to sit up. But she 
screamed with fright, for she could not move 
her hands and feet. Indeed, she could not rise 
at all! And that day, and the next, and for 
many days after, she lay helpless on her bed, 
and Mary fed and comforted her. 

And every night the hundred little green 
Pixies came creeping, creeping into the kitchen. 
They swept, they baked, they sewed, they spun, 
and they drank from Mary’s water-pail. And 
every night they left one piece of silver there. 

And so a whole year passed, and Alice lay 




THE PIXIES 


i3 


her idle ways. And one night she called Mary 
to her, and wept and said: 

“Oh, sister, if only I could get up tomorrow, 
and feel the warm sunshine and play among 
the flowers! And if only I were strong enough 
to work for you, as you have worked for me!” 

And Mary kissed and comforted her. 

The next morning came, and Mary got up 
at break of day. She ran and looked into the 
pail. Then she clapped her hands and said: 

“Come, Alice, come! See the silver pennies 
shining at the bottom of the clear water! There 
must be a hundred of them! Come, sister!” 

And Alice forgot that she could not move. 
She sprang lightly out of bed and ran into the 
kitchen. And she was all well and happy again! 

And oh, how glad the sisters were! How 
they kissed each other and laughed with joy! 
They milked the cow, and churned, and baked, 
and cooked and sat spinning on the porch. And 
the bees buzzed, and the butterflies fluttered, 
and the sisters sang: 

“How merrily the wheels go round, 



THE MOTHER OF THE FATHER OF 
OUR COUNTRY 


HO has not heard of George Washing- 



vv ton? We call him the “father of his 
country” and we all know that he was the first 
president of the United States. But did you 
know that his mother’s name was Mary? 

Mary Ball, for that was her name, was left 
an orphan when she was only twelve years 
old. She was a little American girl, born in 
Virginia, but when her parents died one of 
her father’s friends became her guardian. His 
name was George Eskridge, and he lived 
most of the time in England. 

The story of how Mary happened to be 
married is this: Mary, then a pretty young 
lady, was living with her guardian at his home 
in England. One day on the road that passed 
the big house there was an accident and a young 


14 


THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON 


i5 


American gentleman was hurt. He was taken 
to the nearest house, the one where Mary 
Ball was living, and Mary helped to nurse him 
until he was well again. The two young people 
fell in love and soon they were married. The 
young man’s name was Augustine Washing¬ 
ton, so Mary Ball became Mary Washington 
and went back to America to live. 

It was at their home in Virginia that their 
first baby was born, a little boy. And Mary, 
thinking of the kind guardian who had cared 
for her, named the little boy George. George 
did not grow up alone, for he had five brothers 
and sisters. It was a busy and a happy home, 
for even the smallest children were taught their 
lessons and how the work of the big house 
and farm should be done. 

Mary Washington was a kind and a wise 
mother and she knew that all her children 
would be happier if they learned how to study 
and work while they were little. Sometimes 
they may have thought she was a stern mother, 
too, for they had to be obedient to the slightest 
word of their teachers and parents, and they 



i6 


MY NAME IS MARY 



were taught quite strictly not to speak while 
grown-ups were talking. 

Mary’s husband died when George was 
about twelve years old. And from that time 
on Mary was a busy mother indeed. Six 
children, the big house in which they lived, 
and the many farms that surrounded it—all 
of this she had to look after, so h^t* hands 
were busy from morning until night. She 
had to visit the fields to see how the crops were 
growing and if the work was being done well. 
She watched the gardens, and the fences and 
the barns, and the negro homes. After the 
cotton was picked it had to be spun and woven 
into cloth. She had to measure out the sugar 
and flour and molasses and vinegar. There 
were vegetables and fruits to be dried or 
canned, bacon and ham to be cured, butter 
and cheese to be made. Even the candles used 
to light her home had to be made. She was 
even the doctor and druggist and nurse for 
her family and the people that worked for her. 
Probably Mary Washington never had any 
time to sit with her hands folded in her lap, 


THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON 


i7 


except on Sunday when she always went to 
church with the family. 

One by one her children grew up and were 
married. You have heard of some of the things 
that happened to George and how he finally 
came to be at the head of the whole American 
army during the Revolutionary war. After 
that he became president, but he always loved 
the mother who had cared for him, helped 
teach him his lessons, and taught him to work 
hard, be kind, and love God. 

More than once he said, “All that I am, I 
owe to my mother.” That must have repaid 
Mary Washington many times for her many 
years of hard work. 

As she grew older he grew busier, for being 
the first president of a new country was not 
easy; but he always had time to think of her, 
to see that she had the things she wanted, and 
to visit her as often as he could. 

When Mary Washington died, an old lady, 
she was buried in a pretty place that she had 
chosen near her home. The whole country 
mourned, but it was not until almost a hundred 




i8 


MY NAME IS MARY 


years later that the beautiful monument that 
had been planned for her grave was built. And 
then it was built by the Marys of the country. 
Every woman and girl whose name was Mary 
was asked to give some money, no matter how 
much or how little, to pay for the monument 
and to keep the ground beautiful around it. 

There it stands today, so that we can never 
forget that the mother of the great George 
Washington was named Mary. 



THE GOLD BREAD 


A TALE TOLD TO LITTLE HUNGARIAN MARYS* 



( NCE upon a time there was a poor widow 


who had a beautiful daughter named 
Marienka. The mother was modest and 
humble, but Marienka was vain and proud. 
She felt that she was much better and wiser 
than her own mother and she would never 
listen to her mother, nor take her advice. 

As Marienka grew older, suitors came from 
many lands to ask her mother if they might 
marry Marienka. But no one satisfied the 
proud girl, and the more they tried to please 
her, the more she scorned them. She refused 
each one in turn and sent them all away. 

One night the poor mother lay awake pray¬ 
ing for Marienka. She could not sleep, for she 
was worried about her wilful daughter. Mari- 

* Reprinted, by permission from "The Road to Enchantment 
copyright 1929 by V. H. Sears & Co., Inc., Publishers. 





20 


MY NAME IS MARY 


enka was sound asleep by her side. As the 
mother gazed lovingly at her beautiful daugh¬ 
ter, suddenly Marienka laughed in her sleep. 

“She must be very happy to laugh in her 
dreams in this way,” said her mother. 

When morning came, the mother said, “My 
dear child, what did you dream in the night? 
I heard you laughing in your sleep and I knew 
that your dream was a happy one.” 

“Indeed it was a happy dream!” answered 
Marienka, as she threw her head back proudly: 
“I dreamed that a nobleman came here for me 
in a copper coach. On my finger he put a ring 
set with a large diamond sparkling like the stars 
in the sky. He took me to the church and 
made me his wife, while all the people looked 
at me in envy.” 

“My daughter, my daughter!” said the 
mother. “That was a very proud dream, but 
it will never come true.” 

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” answered 
Marienka. “We shall see! We shall see!” 

That same day a handsome young farmer 
drove his wagon into the yard. He had a nice 







THE GOLD BREAD 


21 


home and was in good circumstances. “Will 
you share a peasant’s bread with me and be my 
wife?” he humbly asked the haughty Marienka. 

But Marienka tossed her head and answered: 
“Though you should come in a copper coach 
and put a ring on my finger set with a bright 
stone that sparkles like the stars in the sky, I 
would never have you for a husband!” 

The young farmer was so angry with the 
rude girl that he drove away in haste. 

“Oh, my daughter, my daughter!” moaned 
the mother. “You should never speak like 
that; no one will ever wed you.” 

The next night the mother was again pray¬ 
ing for her haughty daughter, when again 
Marienka suddenly laughed aloud in her sleep. 

“I wonder what she is dreaming now,” said 
the poor mother to herself, for she was so 
worried that she could not sleep. 

“My dear child,” she said the next morning, 
“What did you dream last night? I am sure 
that your dream was a happy one, for I heard 
you laugh aloud in your sleep.” 

“What did I dream, Mamma?” answered 


£s> 


m 



£9 







22 


MY NAME IS MARY 



the haughty girl. “I dreamed that a nobleman 
came in a silver coach, and he placed a golden 
diadem on my head and took me to the church 
and made me his wife, and all the people looked 
at me in envy.” 

“My daughter, my poor daughter,” said the 
mother, “that was a proud dream but it will 
never come true.” 

“We shall see! We shall see!” mocked 
Marienka as she ran out of the room. 

That same day a beautiful carriage drove 
into the yard and a handsome young nobleman 
came to call upon Marienka. 

“Will you share a nobleman’s bread and be 
my wife?” he asked. 

“It is truly a great honor, sir!” murmured 
the delighted mother. But the haughty Mari¬ 
enka tossed her head high in the air and an¬ 
swered, “Though you should come in a silver 
coach and put a golden diadem upon my head, 
I would not have you for a husband!” 

The nobleman was very angry. A dark scowl 
came across his face; he would not even an¬ 
swer the haughty girl, but drove away at once. 


THE GOLD BREAD 


23 


Marienka gave a mocking laugh, but her 
poor mother called out in despair, “Oh, Mari¬ 
enka, Marienka, take care, take care, my child! 
Such pride is the device of the Evil One!” 

“Mothers never know what they are saying!” 
said Marienka, as she went on shrugging her 
pretty shoulders. 

The third night the poor mother could not 
sleep at all, she was so anxious about her wilful 
child. Suddenly, Marienka burst out in a loud 
fit of laughter. “What can my poor child be 
dreaming now?” said the mother. She was so 
worried that she lay awake until morning, pray¬ 
ing for her proud daughter. 

“My dear child,” said she in the morning, 
“what did you dream last night?” 

“You will only be cross with me if I do tell 
you, and scold me,” said the saucy girl. 

“No, no!” said the mother. “Only tell me, 
my child.” 

“Well, I dreamed that a noble lord, with 
many knights and pages in attendance, came 
to call upon me. He was in a golden coach 
and he brought a bridal robe of golden lace. 



24 


MY NAME IS MARY 



He took me to the church and all the people 
looked at me in envy!” 

The poor mother clasped her hands in agony, 
while the proud Marienka ran from the room 
before her mother could say a word. 

The same day three coaches drove into the 
yard. One was of copper and was drawn by 
two white horses; one was of silver and was 
drawn by four white horses, and the third was 
of gold and was drawn by eight white horses. 
These horses were covered with velvet blankets 
and the harness was set with gold and pearls 
and rubies. From the copper and silver coaches 
alighted pages dressed in red trousers with 
green velvet jackets and cloaks, while from the 
golden coach stepped a handsome nobleman 
dressed all in gold. 

As soon as he came into the house he knelt 
before the mother and said, “May I ask for the 
hand of your daughter, the beautiful Mari¬ 
enka, of whom I have heard so much?” 

“What an honor! ” gasped the mother. “Cer¬ 
tainly, Sir Knight, you may wed my daughter. 
If it pleases her it will please me.” 


THE GOLD BREAD 


25 


“You are the nobleman of my dreams,” an¬ 
swered Marienka. “Most certainly I will wed 
you at once. There, you see, Mother, you were 
wrong as usual about my dreams, and I was 
right. My dreams have come true, as I said! ” 

Marienka ran to her room and tied a be¬ 
trothal knot, which she offered to the handsome 
lord as a pledge of her faith. He on his part put 
on her finger a beautiful ring set with a large 
diamond that sparkled like the stars in the sky. 
He placed upon her head a diadem of gold and 
gave her a gown all made of golden lace. 

The haughty girl never thanked the noble¬ 
man for his gifts. She just repeated: “All my 
dreams have come true! I knew they would! ” 
Then she ran from the room to dress. 

The poor mother was so anxious for the 
happiness of her haughty daughter that she 
said to the bridegroom, “My good sir, I did not 
hear you say, but may I ask what bread do you 
offer my daughter?” 

“In my kingdom,” answered the nobleman 
in a stern voice, “the bread is of copper, and 
silver and gold; she can take her choice ” 




26 


MY NAME IS MARY 


“What does this mean?” gasped the 
frightened mother; but Marienka felt no fear. 
Dressed in her robe of sparkling gold she looked 
beautiful as the sun, with the golden diadem 
upon her head and the sparkling ring upon 
her hand. She took her husband’s arm, and 
went off to the church with him without even 
asking her mother’s blessing. The poor woman 
was left alone to weep and to pray. When the 
proud Marienka returned from the church, she 
entered the coach drawn by the eight white 
horses and, without a farewell to her mother 
or a last look, she drove rapidly away. 

Faster and faster galloped the eight white 
horses until at last they reached a huge rock 
in which there was a hole like a great tunnel 
under the mountain. 

It was very dark. The horses plunged and 
the golden chariot rocked to and fro, while the 
earth seemed to tremble and the rock cracked 
and crumbled. In her fright Marienka seized 
her husband’s hand. 

“Do not be alarmed, my fair one, in a 
moment it will be light.” 





THE GOLD BREAD 


27 


All at once thousands of little lights gleamed 
in the darkness and, as they waved through the 
air and came nearer and nearer, it began to be 
bright. The dwarfs of the mountain, each with 
a torch in his hand, were coming out from the 
rocks to salute their lord, the King of the Mines, 
and his beautiful bride. For the first time 
Marienka heard the name of her husband, but 
whether he was a spirit of good or evil she did 
not know and did not care, for he was so very 
rich that she did not regret her choice. 

They soon drove out from the dark, rocky, 
tunnel and went over the mountains that were 
bleak and gloomy, and through dark forests. 
As Marienka looked closely at the trees, she 
saw that they were all of lead. 

When they reached the end of the forest, 
they came upon a meadow where the grass was 
all silver, Marienka saw a wonderful castle 
made of gold and inlaid with diamonds and 
rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The golden 
coach stopped before the golden castle, and the 
King of the Mines alighted and offered his 
hand to the bride. 









28 


MY NAME IS MARY 


“My fair one/’ he said, “all that you see is 
your very own.” 

Marienka was so proud and so happy to pos¬ 
sess all of this splendor that she murmured to 
herself, “My dreams, my dreams, all my beauti¬ 
ful dreams have come true!” 

After such a long journey they were, of 
course, all hungry. Marienka was delighted 
to see the mountain dwarfs bring in a table 
which glittered with gold, silver and many 
precious stones. The food was wonderful to 
look upon—roasts of gold served on silver 
trays; salads made all of emeralds; grapes 
which were of sapphires and amethysts; apples 
and cherries of garnets and rubies. Every one 
seemed to enjoy the dinner very much and all 
ate heartily except the poor bride, who begged 
her husband for a bite of bread. 

“Bring the copoer bread!” said the King of 
the Mines. 

Marienka could not eat it. 

“Bring the silver bread!” the King then 
commanded the dwarfs. 

Marienka could not eat it. 



THE GOLD BREAD 


29 


“Bring the gold bread!” said he. 

Marienka could not eat it. 

“My fair one,” said the King of the Mines, 
“in this kingdom we have no other bread. 
What can we offer you? As you see, our bread 
is of copper or silver or gold!” 

The poor bride burst into tears, at which her 
husband laughed both loud and long, for you 
must know that his heart was of metal like the 
things in his kingdom. 

“Weep, weep and wail all that you like,” he 
said in a mocking voice, “it will do you no good 
to weep. Your wish has been answered. You 
possess all the riches of your dreams; now eat 
the bread that you have chosen.” 

Thus the poor Marienka lived in her castle 
of gold surrounded by riches and always tor¬ 
tured by hunger. 

They say that three days in the year—the 
“Rogation Days”—when the ground opens to 
receive the rain, Marienka is allowed to come 
back to the earth. Dressed all in rags, old and 
ugly and wrinkled, she goes from door to door 
begging for a bite of bread. She is happy when 


30 


MY NAME IS MARY 


a few crusts are thrown out to her, for she re¬ 
ceives as alms from the poor what she can 
never receive in her palace of gold—a little 
bread and a little pity. 


MARY’S CANARY 

Mary had a pretty bird, 

Feathers bright and yellow; 
Slender legs—upon my word, 

He was a pretty fellow. 

The sweetest nGte he always sung, 
Which much delighted Mary; 

She often, where the cage was hung 
Sat hearing her canary. 













MARYLAND 


T"*\ID any of you ever wonder how the state 
of Maryland got its name? Perhaps 
most of you never thought about it before. But 
we can be proud that the state was named after 
a Mary. Her whole name was Henrietta 
Marie, for she was the sister of the King of 
France. Marie, as you know, is the French 
name for Mary. 

Henrietta Marie married King Charles of 
England. And so, when Lord Baltimore led a 
little group of people to a settlement far south 
of Plymouth where the pilgrims had settled, he 
thought it only proper that the place should be 
called Maryland in honor of the Queen of Eng¬ 
land. Maryland was settled just fourteen 
years after little Mary Chilton landed at Ply¬ 
mouth. It is something to remember that the 
Marys got a very early start in this country. 

31 



LITTLE ROAST PIG 


AN AMERICAN STORY* 

M ARY ELLEN thought that never, even 
when the country fair was held in the 
green country from which she and all the family 
had just come, had she ever seen anything so 
wonderful as the big city market. 

It was a great red brick building, and it stood 
not so very far from the great yellow brick 
building, on the top floor of which Mary Ellen 
and all the family now lived. The very first 
day after they were settled Mother, with a large 
basket, and Mary Ellen, with a little basket, 
went over to the city market to buy some food. 

Oh, and there they saw the Butter-and-Eggs 
man, dressed all in white, who stood behind 
a toy-sized farm house and served his customers 

*Used by permission of the publishers of “Merry Tales for 
Children' 1 by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, by arrangement with 
Milton Bradley Company, Publishers . 


32 






LITTLE ROAST PIG 


33 


with pats of yellow butter and even with combs 
of dripping golden honey. The Fruit-and- 
Vegetables man, with a gay red handkerchief 
about his neck, stood among piles of apples and 
oranges and heads of lettuce and red beets and 
green peas and beans. 

There was a Baker man and an Oyster man. 
The entire market was draped gaily with 
festoons of colored paper and greens. Before 
she realized it, Mary Ellen was separated in 
the crowd from Mother, but she did not wait 
to be frightened because she was lost. She had 
stopped in front of the Butcher man’s counter, 
and there she sorrowfully read a sign: 

“Roasting Pigs For Sale” 

Then Mary Ellen laughed, for she heard a 
merry little squeal. There in a crate under the 
Butcher man’s counter, was a small pink pig. 
He might easily have been one of the small 
pink pigs from the big pig-pen at Mary Ellen’s 
farm in the country. She bent over Little Roast 
Pig and gave him a rosy apple from her market 
basket. Then she opened her very own beaded 
purse that hung from a chain on her arm and 











34 


MY NAME IS MARY 


counted the money in it. Mary Ellen did not 
really need to count the money in the beaded 
purse, for she knew exactly how much there 
was. She always carried the purse when she 
went out, so as to be sure that all that money 
which she had been saving in it for ever so 
long was safe. There was two dollars, in four 
shining fifty cent pieces, and Mary Ellen was 
going to put it in a bank as soon as she and 
Mother found one near them in the city. But 
now she had changed her mind. She spoke 
bravely to the Butcher man: 

“Would you sell Little Roast Pig before he 
is roasted for four bright fifty cent pieces?” 
Mary Ellen asked. 

The Butcher man stopped weighing strings 
of sausages and looked down at Mary Ellen. 
She stood in front of him in her country, blue 
calico dress, and her country hat with a mended 
rim and faded ribbons, but wearing the sunniest 
country smile that he had ever seen. 

“I don’t think he wants to be roasted,” she 
went on, “I have all that money, and I will pay 
it to you for him.” 




LITTLE ROAST PIG 


35 


“Well, that is a fair bargain,” the Butcher 
man said, “all your money for a pig that I don’t 
want to keep. I’ve been thinking just that my¬ 
self about him, that he wouldn’t relish being 
roasted. He is here only to advertise and there 
is plenty of business without him. All day long 
he squeals like that as if he wanted to go home 
with the children. Here you are,” and the 
Butcher man opened the crate, and set the little 
pig up on the counter. 

Mary Ellen counted out her four bright fifty 
cent pieces and laid them beside him there on 
the counter. She was just going to lift him 
off when the Butcher man had a kind thought. 
He pulled down some of his red tissue paper 
festoons and made a ruffled collar for Little 
Roast Pig, like the ruffs that lords and ladies 
used to wear. 

“There you are,” he said, and he put the pig 
into Mary Ellen’s tender arms. 

When Mary Ellen discovered that she had 
strayed away from Mother, she very sensibly 
went straight home, for she had remembered 
the way. Mother did not come for quite a 



3« 


MY NAME IS MARY 


long while, and shortly after she did come, 
Aunt Jane arrived with the dear baby for whom 
she had been caring until the family should be 
quite all settled and ready for him. And before 
they knew it, it was bed time. 

That night, when there were no sounds in 
the city except the whistling of the tug boats 
on the river, and when everyone in the great 
yellow apartment house was asleep, a strange 
noise awoke the other families who lived on 
the top floor near Mary Ellen’s family. It 
awoke Mary Ellen and her family also. It was 
a strange kind of squealing noise and it seemed 
to come from the high roof. 

“Burglars!” everyone cried and they all, in¬ 
cluding the janitor and Mary Ellen and Mother 
and Father, went out into the hall to listen. 
There it came again, that strange sound. It 
was a series of squeals. 

“Oh!” exclaimed Mary Ellen, “that must be 
Little Roast Pig crying for his supper. I am 
afraid I forgot to feed him.” 

“Little Roast Pig?” they all asked. 

“Yes,” Mary Ellen explained. “A tiny, tiny 


4 


* 


m 



LITTLE ROAST PIG 


37 


live pink pig that I bought at the market with 
all my money, for I thought that he would 
rather be bought that way, all nice and wriggly. 
And when I came home, I put him up on the 
roof in a packing box for a pen.” 

How everyone laughed, and then each family 
found something for the little pig’s supper! 

In the morning, Mother went over to the 
market to see if Mary Ellen had paid enough 
to the Butcher man, and to explain how she 
had loved all the animals in the country. It 
was too much, the Butcher man said, and he 
sent back two of the bright fifty cent pieces 
to go in the bank. And the best part of it was 
that Little Roast Pig lived there on the roof 
of the apartment, and was a Little Pet Pig. 




MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


O NCE upon a time in a land across the seas 
a tiny daughter was born to a King and 
Queen. They named her Mary. 

So many wonderful things happened to Mary 
while she was a baby and a little girl that you 
might suppose the good fairies were watching 
over her to make her life a very happy one. 
But when she grew older the good fairies must 
have been driven away by the bad, for she spent 
many unhappy years in prison and was finally 
put to death. 

The strangest thing about this Mary is that 
she was not a make-believe princess and queen, 
but a very real baby and little girl and woman. 
And there were no fairies at all to watch over 
her. She was Mary, daughter of the king and 
queen of Scodand, and she was born long ago, 
in the year 1542. 



38 


MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


39 


When the little Princess Mary was still a 
baby her father, the king, died. And before 
she could walk even a step and long before she 
would try to say her first baby words, this tiny 
little girl was crowned queen of the great land 
of Scotland. 

There were stately processions and blowing 
of trumpets and loud shouts from the crowds 
that had come to celebrate the crowning of the 
new queen. And tiny Mary, frightened by all 
the noise, which she certainly could not under¬ 
stand, cried and cried. A cardinal dressed in 
red robes placed a heavy crown on her head. 
The scepter that her king father had used, and 
many other kings before him, was placed in 
her wee hand. Around her baby waist they 
fastened the huge sword that the kings of 
Scotland wore to battle. Great lords and ladies 
knelt before her and kissed her little hand. And 
poor baby Mary, now a queen, kept right on 
crying so that her nurse soon had to take her 
back to her nursery. There she was happy 
again. Lords and ladies and crowns and 







4 o 


MY NAME IS MARY 


to drink and her own soft bed and her toys— 
those were the things she knew about. 

Strange things did not stop happening to 
Mary as she grew into a little girl, for when 
she was not quite six years old she was engaged 
to be married to a prince, a son of the king of 
France. And the prince, or Dauphin, as they 
called him in France, was a year younger than 
Mary. His name was Francis. 

When Mary was six years old she was sent 
to France to be educated, although she had 
already learned many things. She could speak 
French as well as English. She had worked 
hard at her lessons in history and geography 
and Latin. And she could embroider and 
weave tapestry. 

Four other little Scotch girls went to play 
and study with her. Strangely enough they 
were all named Mary, too. They were Mary 
Beaton, Mary Livingston, Mary Seton and 
Mary Fleming. They were never away from 
her and you can imagine that the five Marys 
were so busy that they had very little time to 
get homesick for Scotland. 


MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 41 

Little Queen Mary and Dauphin Francis 
soon grew to love each other, for they played 
and studied together and had very gay times 
with the other girls and boys of the French 
king’s court. 

When Francis was fifteen and Mary sixteen 
they were married in the big cathedral called 
Notre Dame, in Paris. Their wedding sounds 
like a story out of a fairy book, and surely no 
fairy princess was ever more lovely than young 
Queen Mary as she walked into the great church 
to be married. 

She was dressed all in white with a beauti¬ 
ful blue mantle and a train twelve yards long, 
all covered with pearls. On her head was a 
crown set with diamonds, rubies, pearls and 
emeralds, and at her throat she wore the “Great 
Harry,” a wonderful jewel that had belonged 
to her grandfather. Gold coins were scattered 
to the crowds of people who had gathered to 
catch a glimpse of the young bride and groom. 
And for days after the wedding there were 
splendid balls and feasting and dancing. 

If this were a fairy story, of course, we would 




42 


MY NAME IS MARY 


say that young Queen Mary and her prince 
husband lived happily ever after. But that is 
not what happened. Before long Francis’ father 
died and Francis became King of France, and 
Mary became Queen of Scotland and of France. 

And then, when Mary was only eighteen 
years old Francis died, and Mary went back to 
Scotland with her heart breaking. She had 
loved her young king very dearly. 

From this time on it seemed as though the 
evil fairies were doing their best to make Mary’s 
life unhappy. But instead of there being evil 
fairies, there were evil people—jealous lords and 
noblemen and kings and other queens. Mary 
married again, and these wicked people, each 
of them trying to get more power and riches 
than the other, used even her husband to plot 
against her. 

And so it happened that when Queen Mary 
was only twenty-five years old—younger even 
than the mothers of most of the Marys who 
will read this story—she was put in prison. She 
spent many sad and terrible years there. But 
still the scheming noblemen and royal kings 





MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 


45 


and queens were not satisfied, so finally poor 
Queen Mary was put to death. 

Born a princess, a queen while she was still a 
tiny baby, and married while she was yet a 
very young girl, Mary, Queen of Scots, is one 
of the Marys who will never be forgotten. 


MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY 

Mary, Mary, quite contrary , 

How does your garden grow? 

With cockle shells and silver bells , 
And pretty maids all in a row . 






THE FIRST MARY IN AMERICA 


M ANY stories have been told about the 
Pilgrims. And all of them tell about 
the little boat, the Mayflower, which carried 
them across a stormy ocean from England. 
Most of the stories tell of the long, long days 
when nobody knew whether they would ever 
reach the wonderful new world or not; and 
how most of the Pilgrim fathers, and the Pil¬ 
grim mothers, and the Pilgrim children, too, 
were sick. They tell about there not being very 
much to eat, and how they forgot all that when 
they first saw the distant land that was to be 
-their new home. 

But very few of these stories tell about one 
little girl that came over on the Mayflower to 
live in the new land of America. Her name 
was Mary, and she was probably the first Mary 
ever to step into the new land. 


44 


THE FIRST MARY IN AMERICA 


45 


Mary’s father’s name was James Chilton. 
Mary had started with her father and mother 
and the other Puritan families to make a new 
home in America. None of them knew very 
much about America, but all of them thought 
that it was a place where they could start again, 
build new homes and a church and work and 
live happily ever after. And they were all brave 
enough to try. 

How glad they all were when after many 
days the sailors cried “Land Ho!” Even the 
sick people felt much better. Every one that 
was well enough to walk came to the deck of 
the boat to see the new land. There it was. 
A long line of white beach with trees growing 
thickly behind it. They thought that all their 
troubles were over. But it was a long time 
before the church and homes were built. 

Some of the men went ashore the first day 
to see what the new land was like. When they 
came back they said that they would have to 
look for a better place to live. It would be too 
hard to land even the little boats that the 
Mayflower had brought with her, and they 




4 6 


MY NAME IS MARY 


wanted to build their town where there was a 
harbor that other ships could sail into. 

On the second day Mary went with some of 
the women to shore to help do the washing for 
the people on the boat. Mary’s father was sick 
and her mother had to stay on the boat to take 
care of him. So young Mary helped wash the 
clothing that they had worn during two months 
on the boat. They washed in the cold water 
of a pond on the beach. They hung the clothes 
on the bushes to dry and had a little cold lunch. 
The men stood by to guard them in case the 
Indians should come while they were there. 

The days that followed were cold and rainy. 
More and more people got sick. And one week 
before Christmas Mary’s father died. The next 
day the men took him ashore to bury him. It 
was a sad beginning of a new life for a little girl. 

Soon after this the men who had gone out 
with Captain Miles Standish to find a place to 
build their town came back. They had found 
a place. It was called Plymouth. And it was 
easy to land the boats there because of a big 
rock which we now call Plymouth Rock. The 





THE FIRST MARY IN AMERICA 


47 


pilgrims called it “landing rock” because they 
could pull their boats up beside it and jump out 
on the rock. 

All of the men who were not sick went ashore 
and started work. There was much to do, for 
they had to cut down the trees they needed to 
build the houses and church. Even so, they 
were ready to hold a church service in one of 
the buildings the third Sunday in January. The 
roof was still not finished, but none of the 
pilgrims minded that. 

On that day, of course, everyone went ashore 
for the church service. As the boat which was 
taking them ashore neared the landing rock 
all of the children crowded to the front. And 
it happened that as the boat touched the rock 
Mary Chilton was the first to jump out. The 
first Mary to land at Plymouth! 

The sickness grew worse and worse. At one 
time there were only six well persons to care 
for all the others. And finally Mary Chilton’s 
mother died. So here was Mary, all alone in 
a new world, without even a home to live in. 
Of course the other mothers and fathers cared 







MY NAME IS MARY 


for her, and when the homes were finally built 
Mary went to live with a family named 
Brewster who also came on the Mayflower. 

When the Mayflower sailed back to England 
in April Mary watched it, along with the others. 
Many of them were sad at seeing the boat go, 
leaving them in a tiny town, not yet finished, 
with the savage Indians so very close. But 
when the Captain asked Mary if she wanted to 
go back to England, she bravely said no with 
all the rest. 

She was so very busy that she did not have 
much time to think of the home she had left 
behind. All day long she helped Mistress 
Brewster with the housework. She helped take 
care of the children. She washed clothes in the 
brook. And she helped prepare herbs and 
witch-hazel for the doctor to give to sick people. 
The days went very fast, for every one had lots 
of work to do, and the fine summer days helped 
them to forget the terrible winter that had gone 
before and had caused so much suffering. 

And when, in November, they saw another 
boat coming into Plymouth harbor they were 




THE FIRST MARY IN AMERICA 


49 


happier than ever. The boat came from Eng¬ 
land and brought more people to live in the 
new land. 

It was a very happy time for Mary, for on 
the boat had come young John Winslow whom 
Mary had known before and whom she liked 
better than she would have told. The sad times 
were over for Mary now. It wasn’t long before 
she and John were married. And we can really 
say that they lived happily ever after. 

John and Mary both worked hard and grew 
rich together. They had ten children, a big, 
happy family. 

And in the city of Boston today you can see 
the will that Mary Chilton Winslow made 
before she died, after a long, happy life. It 
shows, more than anything else, how her life 
had changed since the sad days on the May¬ 
flower when she washed clothes in the cold 
water of the beach. For now she had many 
things to give away: silver spoons and pewter 
dishes, rugs, silk dresses and petticoats, aprons, 
napkins, linen and beds, even a beautiful coat 
with silver lace. 



THE CHILD OF MARY* 


A STORY THEY TELL IN NORWAY AND GERMANY 

F AR, far from here, in a great forest, there 
once lived a poor couple. Heaven blessed 
them with a charming little daughter; but 
they were so poor they did not know how they 
were going to get her christened. So her father 
had to go forth to see whether he could not find 
a god-father to pay for the child’s christening. 
All day long he searched; but no one wanted 
to be the god-father. 

Toward evening, as he was going home, he 
met a very lovely lady, who seemed most kind 
and friendly, and she offered to see that the 
child was christened, if she might be allowed 
to keep it afterward. The man replied that 
first he must ask his wife. 

But when he reached home the mother gave 

*Used by permission of T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., and Ernest 
Benn, Ltd., publishers of The Norwegian Fairy Books. 

so 



THE CHILD OF MARY 


5i 


him a flat “no / 5 The following day the 
man set out again; but no one wanted to be the 
god-father if he had to pay for the christening 
himself, and no matter how hard the man 
begged, it was all of no avail. When he went 
home that evening, he again met the lovely 
lady, and she made him the same offer as before. 

The man again told his wife what had hap¬ 
pened to him, and added that if he could not 
find a god-father for his child the following 
day, they would probably have to let the lady 
take her, since she seemed to be so kind and 
friendly. The man then went out for the third 
time, and found no god-father that day. And 
so, when he once more met the friendly lady 
in the evening, he promised to let her have the 
child if she would see that it was baptized 

The next morning the lady came to the man’s 
hut, and with her were two other men. She 
then took the child and went to church with it, 
and it was baptized. The little girl remained 
with her for several years, and her foster-mother 
was always good and kind to her. 

Now when the girl had grown old enough 


52 


MY NAME IS MARY 


to make distinctions, and had acquired some 
sense, it chanced that her foster-mother once 
wished to take a journey. 4 ‘You may go into 
any room you wish,” she said to the girl, “only 
you are not to go into these three rooms,” and 
then she set out on her journey. But the girl 
could not resist opening the door to one of the 
rooms a little way—and swish! out flew a star. 

When her foster-mother came home, she was 
much grieved to find that the star had flown 
out, and was so annoyed with her foster-child 
that she threatened to send her away. But the 
girl pleaded and cried, until at last she was 
allowed to remain. 

After a time the foster-mother wanted to take 
another journey, and she forbade the girl, above 
all, to go into the two rooms which, as yet, she 
had not entered. And the girl promised her 
that this time she would obey her. But when 
she had been alone for some time, and had had 
all sorts of thoughts as to what there might be 
in the second room, she could no longer resist 
opening the second door a little way—and 
swish! out flew the moon. When the foster- 


THE CHILD OF MARY 


53 


mother returned, and saw the moon had slipped 
out, she again grieved greatly, and told the girl 
she could keep her no longer, and that now 
she must go. But when the girl again began 
to cry bitterly, and pleaded with such grace that 
it was impossible to deny her, she was once more 
allowed to remain. 

After this the foster-mother wished to take 
another journey, and she told the girl, who was 
now more than half-grown, that she must take 
her request not to go, or even so much as peep 
into the third room, seriously to heart. But 
when the foster-mother had been away for some 
time, and the girl was all alone and bored, she 
could at last resist no longer. “O,” thought she, 
“how pleasant it would be to take a peep into 
that third room!” It is true, that at first she 
thought she would not do it, because of her 
foster-mother; yet when the thought returned 
to her, she could not hold back, after all; but 
decided that she should and must by all means 
take a peep. So she opened the door the least 
little bit—and swish! out flew the sun. 

When the foster-mother returned, and 



saw 



54 


MY NAME IS MARY 


that the sun had flown out, she grieved, and told 
the girl that now she could positively stay with 
her no longer. The foster-daughter cried and 
pleaded even more touchingly than before; but 
all to no avail. “No, I must now punish you,” 
said the foster-mother. “But you shall have 
your choice of either becoming the most beauti¬ 
ful of all maidens, without the power of speech, 
or the most homely, yet able to talk. But you 
must leave this place.” The girl said: “Then 
I would rather be the most beautiful of maidens 
without the power of speech”—and such she 
became, but from that time on she was dumb. 

Now when the girl had left her foster- 
mother, and had wandered for a time, she came 
to a large wood, and no matter how far she went 
she could not reach its end. When evening 
came, she climbed into a high tree that stood 
over a spring, and sat down in its branches to 
sleep. Not far from it stood a king’s castle, and 
early the next morning a serving-maid came 
from it, to get water from the spring for the 
prince’s tea. And when the serving-maid saw 
the lovely face in the spring, she thought it was 



THE CHILD OF MARY 


55 


her own. At once she threw down her pail and 
ran back holding her head high, and saying, 
“If I am as beautiful as all that, I am too good 
to carry water in a pail!” Then another was 
sent to fetch water, but the same thing 
happened to*her; she, too, came back and said 
she was far too handsome and too good to go 
to the spring and fetch water for the prince. 

Then the prince went himself, for he wanted 
to see what it all meant. And when he came 
to the spring, he also saw the picture, and at 
once looked up into the tree. And so he saw 
the lovely maiden who was seated among its 
branches. He coaxed her down, took her back 
home with him, and nothing would do but that 
she must be his bride, because she was so beauti¬ 
ful. But his mother, who was still living, 
objected: “She cannot speak,” said she, “and, 
maybe, she belongs to the troll-folk.” But the 
prince would not be satisfied until he won her. 

When, after a time, heaven bestowed a 
child upon the young queen, the prince set a 
guard about her. But suddenly they all fell 
asleep, and her foster-mother came, cut the 


5^ 


MY NAME IS MARY 



child’s little finger, rubbed some of the blood 
over the mouth and hands of the queen, and 
said: “Now you shall grieve just as I did when 
you let the star slip out!” And with that she 
disappeared with the child. When those whom 
the prince had set to keep guard opened their 
eyes again, they thought that the queen had 
devoured her child, and the old queen wanted 
to have her burned; but the prince loved 
her so tenderly, that after much pleading he 
succeeded in having her saved from punish¬ 
ment, though only with the greatest difficulty. 

When heaven gave her a second child, a 
guard of twice as many men as had first stood 
watch was again set about her; yet everything 
happened as before, only that this time the 
foster-mother said to her: “Now you shall 
grieve as I did when you let the moon slip out! ” 
The queen wept and pleaded—for when the 
foster-mother was there she could speak—but 
without avail. Now the old queen insisted that 
she be burned. But the prince once more suc¬ 
ceeded in begging her free. When heaven gave 
her a third child, a three-fold guard was set 



THE CHILD OF MARY 


57 


about her. The foster-mother came while the 
guard slept, took the child, cut its little finger, 
and rubbed some of the blood on the queen’s 
mouth. “Now,” said she, “you shall grieve just 
as I did when you let the sun slip out!” 

Now the prince could not save her, she 
was to be and should be burned. But at the 
very moment when they were leading her to 
the stake, the foster-mother appeared with all 
three children; the two older ones she led by 
hand, the youngest she carried on her arm. She 
stepped up to the young queen and said: “Here 
are your children, for now I give them back to 
you. I am the Virgin Mary, and the grief that 
you have felt is the same grief that I felt afore- 
times, when you had let the star, the moon and 
the sun slip out. Now you have been punished 
for that which you did, and from now on the 
power of speech is restored to you! ” 

The happiness which then filled the prince 
and the princess may be imagined, but cannot 
be described. They lived happily together ever 
after, and from that time forward even the 
prince’s mother was very fond of the beautiful 
young queen. 



HIGHLAND MARY 


Ye ban\s and braes and streams around 
The castle o’ Montgomery, 

Green be your woods, and fair your flowers, 
Your waters never drumlie! 

There summer first unfauld her robes, 

And there the langest tarry; 

For there I too\ the last fareweel 
0 } my sweet Highland Mary. 

How sweetly bloom*d the gay green bir\, 
How rich the hawthorn's blossom, 

As underneath their fragrant share 
1 clasp'd her to my bosom! 

The golden hours on angel wings 
Flew o'er me and my dearie; 

For dear to me as light and life 
Was my sweet Highland Mary. 


58 






HIGHLAND MARY 


59 


Wi’ monie a vow and loc1(d embrace 
Our parting was fu' tender; 

And, pledging aft to meet again, 

We tore oursels asunder ; 

But oh! fell Death's untimely frost, 

That nipt my -flower sae early! 

Now green's the sod and cauld's the clay, 
That wraps my Highland Mary! 

O pale, pale now, those rosy lips 
I aft hae kjss'd sae fondly! 

And closed for aye the spar\ling glance 
That dwelt on me sae hjndly! 

And mouldering now in silent dust 
That heart that lo'ed me dearly! 

But still within my bosom's core 
Shall live my Highland Mary. 

Robert Burns, 1759-1796. 


THE BEST LOVED MARY OF 
THEM ALL 

A VERY long time ago in a little village in 
a country far away there lived a shep¬ 
herd named Joachim and his wife Anna. 
Joachim and Anna were both good people 
and were very rich. They owned big fields 
of grain and many cows, and large flocks of 
sheep and goats. But owning all these fine 
things did not make them very happy for they 
did not have the thing they wanted most of 
all; a little son or daughter of their own. 

Both of them prayed often to God to send 
them a child, and finally their prayers were 
answered. A little girl was born to them and 
they named her Mary. They were so happy 
and grateful to God for letting them have what 
they had wanted most that they decided their 
little Mary should be taught to serve God. 


60 




THE BEST LOVED MARY OF THEM ALL 61 


When Mary was three years old, still only 
a baby, they took her to the temple so that 
she could begin to learn, along with other little 
girls, the things that God would like them to 
know. They learned to pray and to sing 
psalms. They were taught to spin and weave 
and embroider. And of all the little girls in 
the temple school, the daughter of Joachim 
and Anna was always the kindest and the 
happiest; she studied the hardest and spent 
much time in praying to God. 

As the girls grew older the priest in the 
temple would send them back to their homes, 
telling them they were ready to marry and 
have families of their own. When Mary grew 
old enough and the high priest told her that 
she was ready to leave the temple she did not 
want to go. The priest did not know just what 
to do, so he asked God about it in prayers. 
God answered that all the men in the country 
who were ready to marry should come to the 
temple, each bringing his rod, for in those 
days all men carried a long stick with a curved 
handle. When the men came, their rods were 



62 


MY NAME IS MARY 


laid on the altar and in the morning the priest 
found that Joseph’s rod had budded with leaves 
and pink flowers. They knew by this sign, 
then, that Joseph was the one chosen by God 
to be Mary’s husband. 

Not very long after this while Mary was 
busy spinning and weaving a new veil for the 
temple a wonderful visitor came to her. It 
was the angel Gabriel and he had come to bring 
her some beautiful news. 

“Hail, Mary!” he said. “The Lord is with 
thee. Blessed art thou among women.” And 
then he told her that she was to have a baby 
named Jesus, and that he was to be the king for 
whom the Jews had been waiting for hundreds 
of years. 

It is hard to imagine how happy Mary 
must have been and how much she thought 
about the coming little baby Jesus who was to 
be her son. 

As it happened, Mary’s little son was not 
born in their home in Nazareth. The em¬ 
peror who ruled over the land ordered all the 
people to return to their home towns to have 





THE BEST LOVED MARY OF THEM ALL 63 

their names written down for the new taxes. 
Joseph belonged to a family that lived in the 
little town of Bethlehem, so he took Mary 
with him when he went to have his name put 
down in the tax books. 

They came to Bethlehem in the evening and 
when they looked for a place to sleep they 
could not find any. So many other people had 
had to come back to the little town that there 
was not a single room left for Joseph and Mary. 
Mary was very tired after the journey, and had 
to have some place to rest. Finally Joseph per¬ 
suaded the keeper of the little inn to let them 
have a place in the stable, where Mary could 
lie down on the straw. 

And that night in the stable little Jesus was 
born. He was wrapped in the swaddling 
clothes that they put on tiny babies and laid 
in a manger. 

Visitors came to see Jesus that first night. 
Some shepherds were watching their flocks 
of sheep on the hillsides not far from Bethle¬ 
hem when a choir of angels came to tell them 
that Jesus, the King of the Jews, was born. 


6 4 


MY NAME IS MARY 


The shepherds came as fast as they could to 
Bethlehem where they found the stable and 
bowed down before the new little king lying 
in his manger. 

There were other visitors, too. Three very 
wise old men had seen a new star in the East, 
and knew at once that it was the star of the 
new king. They followed the star for many 
miles until it brought them to Bethlehem and 
they, too, bowed before the baby Jesus. They 
brought him gifts, strange gifts for a baby, but 
gifts fit for a king. They brought gold, and 
incense, and myrrh. 

Now, every Christmas time, we celebrate 
by giving gifts to others the gift God gave to 
us in the baby Jesus. And at Christmas, more 
than any other time during the year, we think 
about Mary, His mother, the best-loved Mary 
of them all. 




















































































